St John’s, Smith Square

Queen Anne’s footstool, they called it. Right here in Smith Square sits St John’s, a magnificent testament to a rather unusual architectural inspiration. St John’s, Smith Square isn’t just any concert hall. It’s a resurrected phoenix, a building that has lived many lives. This grand Baroque masterpiece, completed in 1728 by Thomas Archer, began as one of the Fifty New Churches, a Tory initiative to bolster the Church of England’s influence. Its unique design, with four prominent corner towers, was supposedly inspired by Queen Anne herself. Legend says that when Archer asked her about her vision for the church, she kicked over her footstool and declared, “Like that!” St John’s, Smith Square served the parish faithfully for over two centuries, weathering fires, lightning strikes, and even a suffragette bomb plot. But its greatest challenge came during World War II. On May 10th, 1941, a German incendiary bomb ripped through the heart of St John’s, leaving it a gutted ruin. For over 20 years, it stood open to the elements, a poignant reminder of the war’s devastation. The church’s fate seemed sealed. But then, a champion emerged. Lady Parker of Waddington refused to let St John’s fade into oblivion. She spearheaded the effort to restore the building, not as a church, but as a concert hall. The restoration, completed in 1969, breathed new life into St John’s, Smith Square. Today, its superb acoustics make it a sought-after venue for a diverse range of musical performances, from classical to contemporary. The grand Corinthian columns, the barrel-vaulted roof, and the pale light filtering in create an atmosphere of both grandeur and intimacy. And beneath it all, the untouched 18th-century crypt serves as a restaurant, a quiet reminder of the building’s long and storied past.